M.S.T. Degree Requirements

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Course Requirements

The requirements for the Master of Science in Transportation degree consist of the following:

a core of two 12-unit subjects;

a) an individually designed program area comprised of 3 subjects totaling at least 30 units. b) at least one Policy or Technology subject;

a Computer Programming requirement;

a thesis.

The degree requires a total of 66 graduate units exclusive of a thesis.

The Core

The MST core consists of two 12-unit subjects, which are taught in the Fall semester:

1.200 Transportation Systems Analysis: Performance and Optimization(C. Osorio)Problem-motivated introduction to methods, models and tools for the analysis and design of transportation networks including their planning, operations and control. Capacity of critical elements of transportation networks. Traffic flows and deterministic and probabilistic delay models. Formulation of optimization models for planning and scheduling of freight, transit and airline systems, and their solution using software packages. User- and system-optimal traffic assignment. Control of traffic flows on highways, urban grids, and airspace.

The Program

The program requires each student to select three or more subjects which further their educational objectives in the field of transportation. For some students this will mean building their depth of understanding in a selected area of interest. For other students the program may emphasize breadth rather than depth in a single area. At least two of the designated subjects should be clearly focused on transportation, while the other(s) can be in a field which supports transportation- for example, a subject covering methods that are used in transportation, drawn from fields such as economics, operations research, political science, management, project evaluation and others.Depth is provided in the following areas:

Air Transportation

Analysis and Planning Methods

Data Sciences for Transportation

Intelligent Transportation Systems, Safety and Security

Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Transportation Policy, Planning and Sustainability

Urban Transportation

Three subjects selected from any subset of the above areas will achieve breadth. At least one of the subjects should be either a Policy or a Technology course.

The Computer Programming Requirement

Graduates of the MST program are expected to have working knowledge of computer programming and information technology since this is a pre-requisite to function as a transportation professional. The Computer Programming requirement can be satisfied by taking a subject from the following list:

Note that only 1.002 provides graduate credit. The other listed subjects may qualify for graduate credit, provided that the student obtains permission from the TEC executive director and the Dean for Graduate Education. To seek graduate credit, students must coordinate with their academic advisor and subject's instructor regarding what extra work is required; then, they must complete the petition form, http://odge.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Petition_Form.pdf , and submit it to TEC for approval (tec@mit.edu).

The waiver request must include the course description and transcript grade. Please note that an approved waiver of the Computer Programming requirement does not reduce the overall number of credits to be taken (students with approved waivers will still need to fulfill the 66 credits requirement). Waiver requests should be submitted to tec@mit.edu .

Subject Areas

Policy subjects

There are three types of subjects that relate to policy:I. Transportation policy subjects:

Students must complete a research-based Master's thesis on a topic of their choice, approved by their thesis supervisor.

Except for the core subjects and the thesis, the following lists present suggested options that fulfill the requirements. Students can propose other subjects, which would require approval of the Transportation Education Committee.

Thesis Requirements

Students must complete a research-based thesis on a topic of their choice that has been approved by the thesis supervisor. Students should enroll in the minimum requirement of 24 (1.ThG) thesis units. Thesis units do not count toward the 66 units required for completion of the M.S.T. degree.

Completion of Degree Requirements

Once the Application for Advanced Degree is on file, the candidate's name will appear on the degree list for that particular term and he/she will be provided with the publication "Specifications for Thesis Preparation," by the MIT Libraries. Please refer to the section on thesis submission for the deadline for submitting your thesis to the CEE Academic Programs Office.

To remove your name from the degree list, email CEE's academic programs administrator and Marti Ward in the Registrar's Office. The student must register for Thesis (1.ThG) and complete a new Application for Advanced Degree in order to graduate the following term.